REPORT ON IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF INTERVENTIONS ON … · significant impact on the reading abilities of students as shown by the mean scores of all the Early Grade Reading Assessment

REPORT ON

IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF

INTERVENTIONS ON EARLY GRADE

READING ABILITY (EGRA) IN SCHOOLS

REPUBLIC OF THE GAMBIA

Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education

Curriculum Research, Evaluation and Development Directorate

November 2009

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TABLE OF CONTENT

FORWARD ................................................................................................................................................4

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ..............................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................6

REVIEW OF THE EGRA CONDUCTED IN 2007 ............................................................................................6

THE INTERVENTIONS ................................................................................................................................7

Setting up of a Management Task Force ..............................................................................................7

Documentary Review and Identification of Best Practices ...................................................................7

Material Development and Teacher Training .......................................................................................7

Ownership at the School Level .............................................................................................................8

THE PURPOSE OF 2009 ASSESSMENT .......................................................................................................8

METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................................................................9

Recruitment and Training of Enumerators/Assessors ..........................................................................9

The Sampling Procedure ......................................................................................................................9

The Instruments used for Data Collection .......................................................................................... 10

Data Collection Procedure .................................................................................................................. 10

Data Analysis Procedure .................................................................................................................... 12

Limitations of the Study ..................................................................................................................... 12

PRESENTATION OF THE FINDINGS .......................................................................................................... 12

1.0 Pre-reading Skills .................................................................................................................... 13

1.1 Concept of Print (Finger Placement) ....................................................................................... 13

1.3 Knowledge of Letter Names .................................................................................................... 17

1.4 Phonemic Awareness (Knowledge of Letter Sounds) .............................................................. 19

2.0 Reading skills .......................................................................................................................... 23

2.1 Familiar Word Reading ............................................................................................................ 23

2.2 Pseudo word (Invented Words or Non-word) Reading ........................................................... 25

2

2.3 Passage or Word in Context Reading ............................................................................................ 26

3.0 Comprehension Task .............................................................................................................. 27

3.1 Reading Comprehension .......................................................................................................... 27

3.2 Listening Comprehension ........................................................................................................ 29

TEACHER TRAINING NEED ...................................................................................................................... 31

SUMMARY OF RESULTS .......................................................................................................................... 31

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS............................................................................................... 37

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Schedule for training of assessors/enumerators ............................................................................. 9

Table 2: Number of Sample Schools by Type and Region ........................................................................... 10

Table 3: Data collection Schedule by Team ................................................................................................. 11

Table 4: National Means and Modes of EGRA Indicators ........................................................................... 34

Table 5: Means and Modes of EGRA Indicators (Government Schools) ..................................................... 34

Table 6: Means and Modes of EGRA Indicators (Mission School) ............................................................... 35

Table 7: Means and Modes of EGRA Indicators (Private Schools) .............................................................. 35

Table 8: Means and Modes of EGRA Indicators for Male ........................................................................... 36

Table 9: Means and Modes of EGRA Indicators for Female ........................................................................ 36

LIST OF APPENDIXES

Appendix 1: List of 2009 EGRA Team .......................................................................................................... 39

Appendix 2: Important EGRA Events in The Gambia ................................................................................... 40

Appendix 3: EGRA Protocols (Instrument for Student Assessment) ........................................................... 41

Appendix 4: Teacher Questionnaire ............................................................................................................ 55

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1: Correct Finger Placement by Region ................................................................................................... 13

Figure 1.2: Correct Finger Placement by School Type ......................................................................................... 14

Figure 1.3: Correct Finger Placements by Grade .................................................................................................. 14

Figure 1.4: Correct Finger Placements by Sex ....................................................................................................... 15

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Figure 2.1: Knowledge of Text Direction by Region ............................................................................................. 15

Figure 2.2: Knowledge of Text Direction by School Type 2007 & 2009 ............................................................. 16

Figure 2.3: Knowledge of Text Direction by Grade ............................................................................................... 16

Figure 2.4: Knowledge of Text Direction by Sex.................................................................................................... 17

Figure 3.1: Number of Correct Letters Per Minute by Region ........................................................................... 17

Figure 3.2: Numbers of Correct Letters Per Minute School Type ...................................................................... 18

Figure 3.3: Correct Letters per Minute by Grade .................................................................................................. 18

Figure 3.4: Correct Letters per Minute by Sex ...................................................................................................... 19

Figure 4.1: Average Number Sounds Correctly Identified by Region ................................................................ 19

Figure 4.2: Average Numbers of Sounds Correctly Identified by School Type ................................................. 20

Figure 4.3: Average Number of Sounds Correctly Identified by Grade ............................................................. 20

Figure 4.4: Average Number of Sounds Correctly Identified by Sex .................................................................. 21

Figure 5.1: Average Number of Phonemes Correctly Sounded Out by Region ................................................ 21

Figure 5.2: Average Number of Phonemes Correctly Sounded Out School Type ............................................ 22

Figure 5.3: Average Number of Phonemes Correctly Sounded Out by Grade ................................................. 22

Figure 5.4: Average Number of Phonemes Correctly Sounded Out by Sex ...................................................... 23

Figure 6.1: Average Words per Minute by Region ............................................................................................... 23

Figure 6.2: Average Correct Words per Minute by School Type ........................................................................ 24

Figure 6.3: Average Correct Words per Minute by Grade ................................................................................... 24

Figure 6.4: Average Correct Words per Minute by Sex ....................................................................................... 24

Figure 7.1: Average Non-words Read Per Minute by Region .............................................................................. 25

Figure 7.2: Correct Non- words Per Minute by School Type ............................................................................... 25

Figure 7.3: Correct Non –words Per Minute by Grade ........................................................................................ 25

Figure 7.4: Correct Non –words Per Minute by Sex ............................................................................................. 26

Figure 8.1: Correct Words in Passage per Minute by Region ............................................................................. 26

Figure 8.2: Correct Words (Reading Passage) Per Minute by School Type ....................................................... 26

Figure 8.3: Average Correct Words (in Passage) Per Minute by Grade ............................................................. 27

Figure 8.4: Average Correct Words (in Passage) Per Minute by Sex.................................................................. 27

Figure 9.1: Correct Answers to Comprehension Questions by Region .............................................................. 28

Figure 9.2: Correct Answers to Comprehension Questions by School Type..................................................... 28

Figure 9.3: Correct Answers to Comprehension Questions by Grade ............................................................... 28

Figure 9.4: Correct Answers to Comprehension Questions by Sex ................................................................... 29

Figure 10.1: Correct Answers to Listening Comprehension Questions by Region .......................................... 29

Figure 10.2: Correct Answers to Listening Comprehension Questions by School Type.................................. 30

Figure 10.3: Correct Answers to Listening Comprehension Questions by Grade ............................................ 30

Figure 10.4: Correct Answers to Listening Comprehension Questions by Sex ................................................. 30

Figure 11. Percentage of Teachers Trained ........................................................................................................... 31

Figure 12: The proportion of children who could not read in 2007 and 2009 by Grade and EGRA task 32

Figure 13: The proportion of children unable to read a single word in context, 2007 and 2008 by grade 33

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FORWARD

This report provides findings of the second series of national assessments on reading abilities of

children in early grades (Grades 1, 2 and 3) conducted in The Gambia in 2009. The first edition

was launched in 2007, the results of which did not only provide baseline data but also a strong

basis to employ appropriate intervening strategies in order to curb reading inabilities.

Guided by the complexity of the challenges associated with early grade reading, the Ministry of

Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE) concentrated a great deal of effort on material

development, in-service training of early grade teachers, school heads and cluster monitors for

the acquisition and application of early grade literacy skills as well as monitoring and supervision

of the teaching and learning processes.

Further to the implementation of the strategies identified to address the low levels of literacy of

early graders, a second assessment was launched in 2009 in order to establish the impact of the

interventions carried out to curb early grade reading inabilities. This report, therefore, provides

useful documentation for policy makers, curriculum developers, development partners and

practitioners on the performance of early graders in literacy skills. It also offers some useful

insight into possible strategies for further improvement on instructional materials and teaching

and learning practices to enhance reading.

It is indeed heartening to note from this report that interventions carried out have registered

significant impact on the reading abilities of students as shown by the mean scores of all the

Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) indicators analysed. Hence, the assessment is a major

step towards consolidating the registered achievement in teacher training, teaching and learning

as well as the introduction and sustainability of assessment practices at the classroom level.

However, the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education will not be complacent with the

registered achievement, given that the modes for the indicators still remain low.

Cognisant of the above, further improvements will require classroom teachers to acquire the skills

to develop, administer and analyse their own assessments on individual children. This will enable

them identify and address individual student’s learning difficulties at the early stage of their early

literacy skills acquisition, thus adopting child-centred teaching approaches in teaching reading.

The positive impact of the early grade reading interventions, as revealed in this report poses a

significant challenge of improving and sustaining the good practices associated with these

interventions. Hence, more effort, resources and commitment will be needed more than ever

before, not only to scale up the interventions but also enhance the quality.

Given that the 2007 assessment was carried out with expertise from the Research Triangular

Institute in the United States of America and that this edition was exclusively undertaken by

home-grown expertise within the education sector, the Ministry of Basic and Secondary

Education will ensure that such expertise is strengthened and retained for improved assessments

in early literacy and other disciplines that require such interventions.

Finally, I extend sincere appreciation and gratitude to all those who participated in this successful

exercise.

Baboucarr Bouy

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Banjul

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

On behalf of the members of the Early Grade Reading Task Force, I wish to thank the Honorable

Minister (Ms. Fatou Lamin Faye) and the Permanent Secretary (Mr. Baboucarr Bouy) of the

Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education for creating the enabling environment for the entire

team to produce this very important report. They deserve to be highly commended for their

untiring efforts in ensuring the existence of a suitable policy environment as well as ensuring the

resources needed are put in place for strengthening reading abilities in Gambian schools.

The Senior Management Team (SMT) of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education have

also been very active both at Central and Regional levels in engaging the Task Force members in

dialogue to ensure that strategic interventions were tabled to improve reading abilities in our

schools. Their efforts are fully recognized.

The Research Triangular Institute RTI which was represented in The Gambia by Dr Amber Gove

was extremely helpful in laying the foundation of Early Grade Reading Assessment in The

Gambia. The Institute shall ever be remembered for facilitating the first nationwide EGRA

conducted in 2007 as well as building national capacity, thus enabling the Ministry to conduct

this 2009 Impact Assessment on its own (without any external support). I therefore extend my

sincere gratitude to the RTI.

Worthy of commendation are also those who took part in the assessment listed in Appendix 1, the

teacher trainers and the Jolly Learning Company in the United Kingdom who provided

international Jolly Phonics trainers as well as Jolly Phonics starter kits to six schools, thus laying

the foundation of Jolly Phonics in The Gambia. I also thank the pupils who voluntarily

participated in the assessment. Teachers too, have contributed in no small measure towards the

achievements being reported in this document. They therefore deserve special commendation.

I also extend special thanks to Gambia College (School of Education) and Future in Our Hands

for making Early Grade Reading a priority in their teacher training activities. I am indebted to my

own staff at the Curriculum Research, Evaluation and Development Directorate (CREDD) of the

Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education who worked tirelessly in ensuring that materials on

Early Grade Reading are produced and teachers are trained on them nationwide.

Finally, this document would not have been produced without the strong support of the World

Bank and Fast-Track Initiative from which funding was provided for the first EGRA to be

conducted in 2007, materials developed and teachers trained, as well as the conduct of the 2009

impact assessment study.

Burama L. J. Jammeh (Director of CREDD)

Editor & National EGRA Coordinator

INTRODUCTION

This report presents findings of the Impact Assessment of Interventions carried out by the

Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education and partners to strengthen reading abilities in

Gambian schools. The first part of the document briefly reviews the process of Early Grade

Reading Assessment (EGRA) conducted in 2007 as well as the follow-up interventions

towards curbing reading inabilities discovered in the assessment. The report further highlights

the purpose of the 2009 assessment and the methodology employed in the assessment.

The second part of the report presents the findings of the impact assessment using simple

column/bar charts to compare the EGRA results for 2007 with the results of 2009. A total of

16 EGRA indicators are analysed in the report of which 10 are plotted in diagrams. Tables are

also included to summarise data for all the 16 indicators. As much as possible, data on the

EGRA indicators are disaggregated by Region (for the six educational regions in country),

school type (public, mission and private), Grade (Grades 1, 2 & 3) and by sex (male & female

distribution).

The final section of the report presents a brief analysis of the teacher questionnaire focusing

on the training needs highlighted by teachers in the survey. This is followed by a summary of

the results presented mainly in tables that comparing the mean and mode scores in 2007 and

2009 for all the indicators nationwide, as well as disaggregated data by school type and sex.

The report is concluded by recommendations amongst which training of teachers on the

classroom reading assessment method, provision of electronic gadgets to enhance teaching of

reading, extending the early grade reading assessment and interventions to Madrassah

institutions using both Arabic and English Language and strengthening EGRA in the teacher

training programme of Gambia College are key in the efforts to further improve reading

abilities in Gambian schools. It is hoped that teachers, curriculum developers, teacher trainers,

researchers, education officers, development partners and university students will find this

report useful.

REVIEW OF THE EGRA CONDUCTED IN 2007

Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) practice started in The Gambia in 2007 with the

permanent Secretary’s acceptance of a World Bank invitation for the Gambia to participate in

the pilot phase of Early Grades Reading Assessment. Consequently, a team of six Education

Officers including the Permanent Secretary himself joined Senegalese team in Dakar for

review and adaptation of the assessment instrument developed by Research Triangular

Institute (RTI). The team spent a week in Dakar (16th

-21st April 2007) and upon their return,

The Gambian team identified extra 14 officials to form a national EGRA team for the 2007

assessment. With the facilitation of RTI expert (Dr. Amber Gove) the team conducted

assessment of reading abilities of 1200 children in Grades 1, 2 and 3 in 40 schools selected in

such a way that all school types (public, mission and private) as well as urban/rural

dichotomies were represented. Thus, purposive, stratified and random sampling methods were

employed in the selection of 40 schools corresponding to 10% of Lower Basic/Basic cycle

schools across the country.

The process involved training on the instrument, pre-testing, finalisation of the instruments as

well as introduction to data analysis using the pre-test data. The assessment proper and data

collection was conducted from 2nd

– 11th

May 2007. The data collected were analysed and

7

compiled into a report1 to form the basis for interventions to curb reading inabilities in

schools. The 2007 assessment results constitute the Ministry’s baseline data for monitoring

the impact of the further interventions. The next section highlights some of the key

interventions carried out to improve reading abilities in Gambian schools. This is followed by

the presentation of the methodology and then the findings.

THE INTERVENTIONS

The interventions that contributed to the achievements being reported included the

establishment of a management task force, documentary review and identification of best

reading practices, material development and teacher training, and the schools taking

ownership of reading interventions.

Setting up of a Management Task Force

The completion of the 2007 assessment is immediately followed by decision making of the

Senior Management Term (SMT) of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education. Well

before the completion of the comprehensive analysis, the result of the pilot exercise was

presented and discussed at the SMT meeting held from 25th – 27th May 2007. A decision

was taken to set up a task force responsible for designing and supervising comprehension plan

to curb reading inabilities in schools. The task force consisted of the Deputy Permanent

Secretary- Technical (Dr Pap Sey), the Director of Human Resources (Fatou Bin Njie) the

Director of Basic and Secondary Education (Momodou Sanneh), the Director of Standard and

Quality Assurance (Momodou B. Jeng) and the Director of Curriculum Research, Evaluation,

Development and In-service Training (Burama L. J. Jammeh) who coordinates the assessment

and intervention programmes.

Documentary Review and Identification of Best Practices

Under the supervision and guidance of the SMT task force a documentary review activity was

conducted to identify gaps in the instructional material of schools and Gambia College

(School of Education) teacher training curriculum on the mechanics of reading. This activity

brought together, curriculum developers, experienced teachers from public, mission and

private schools, lecturers from Gambia College and University of The Gambia in a workshop

to identify not only gaps in the instructional materials but also best practices on teaching

reading at early grades.

Material Development and Teacher Training

The information and materials obtained from the documentary review exercise were used to

produce a Hand book on Teaching Early Grade Reading Activities ( EGRA) at a Material

Development workshop held from the 6th – 15th August 2007. The hand book was used to

1 Sprenger-Charolles, L. (2008) The Gambia Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) Results from

1,200 Gambian Primary Students Learning to Read in English—Report for the World Bank. Report

can be downloaded at:

https://www.eddataglobal.org/documents/index.cfm?fuseaction=pubDetail&ID=116

8

conduct a nationwide training of teachers from August to September 2007. A total of 3000

participants consisting of Grades 1, 2 and 3 teacher, (primary targets), head teachers and

cluster monitors. Furthermore, through negotiations, Jolly Learning Company in the United

Kingdom sponsored an international Jolly Phonics trainer to train teachers on Jolly Phonics as

part of the nationwide teacher training. A total of 100 teachers where initially trained on Jolly

Phonics.

A follow-up teacher training on Jolly Phonics was conducted in March to April, 2008 with the

help of six international Jolly Phonic trainers from Jolly Learning Company. The team

included Mrs. Susan Lloyd (the founder of the Jolly Phonics technique). Subsequent activities

included development of Early Literacy Teacher training guides which incorporated more

Jolly Phonics techniques.

Ownership at the School Level

Training activities continued at national, regional, school cluster and school levels. Cases of

individual teacher to teacher training were also noted. Some schools continued to carry out

in- house training on Jolly Phonics, bought radio cassette players on their own to facilitate

teaching and learning of sounds, songs, rhymes and stories. Noting the level of commitment

at the highest level of the Ministry of Education, some schools were also observed to have

taken ownership and responsibilities to develop materials and train one and other on Jolly

Phonics. For example, it was common to see school communities inviting professional

trainers to facilitate school based training activities.

The most outstanding interventions carried out by the Ministry to curb reading inabilities in

schools are presented in Appendix 2 including dates, objectives of the activities and outputs.

Given the 2007 baseline data and the numerous efforts to curb reading inabilities, this report

is designed to provide feedback on the interventions carried out as measured by the

performances of students of early grades in reading. The next section highlights the purpose

of the 2009 assessment.

THE PURPOSE OF 2009 ASSESSMENT

The purpose of this assessment was to document student performance on early grade reading

skills in order to inform policy makers, curriculum developers, development partners and

practitioners on the impact of the interventions that were carried to curb reading inabilities.

The assessment is also designed to showcase the needs for further improvements in the

instructional materials and teaching learning practices towards enhancing reading. The

specific objectives are:

• To sustain and improve the culture of Early Grade Reading Assessment in Schools

• To ascertain whether or not the interventions carried out in since 2007 yielded any

benefit. In other words, to assess impact of the interventions carried out as measure

by students’ performance in EGRA

• To have more Gambians trained on the assessment method

• To establish basis for carrying out further interventions in the area of reading.

To achieve these objectives, the following section discusses the methodology employed.

9

METHODOLOGY

As stated above, the 2007 assessment was conducted with the help of an expert from RTI.

Unlike the 2007 assessment, this impact assessment and the analysis presented in this report

was conducted by the national team from the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education. The

process included training/refreshers course for the enumerators, piloting/rehearsal of the

instruments, assessment at schools, data coding and data analysis, report writing and

presentation.

Recruitment and Training of Enumerators/Assessors

The enumerator/assessors were selected in such a way that seeds of nationwide teacher

training on the assessment method are planted. Therefore, the recruitment covered

representatives from the six educational regions in addition to the staff of Curriculum and

Standard and Quality Assurance Directorates of the Ministry. Appendix 1 presents the list of

Enumerators/Assessors that were recruited, trained and engaged in data collection.

The training activity included preliminary data collection and coding exercises from schools

that were purposely selected for their intensive EGRA programme. Table 1 below shows the

schedule for the training activity.

Table 1: Schedule for training of assessors/enumerators

The Sampling Procedure

The sampling procedure for the 2007 assessment was adapted to ensure credibility in

comparing the results. The procedure was based on 10% of the lower basic/basic cycle

schools was targeted. The selection of sample schools was through purposive sampling to

Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Teams 16th June 17th June 18th June 19th June 20th June

1 Training

Pilot

Bundung

Coding/data

Entry Analysis

Analysis &

Preparations

2 Training Pilot Coding/data Analysis

Analysis &

Preparations

St Therese's Entry

3 Training Pilot Coding/data Analysis

Analysis &

Preparations

Sukuta Entry

Analysis &

Preparations

Entry

4

Training Pilot

Jamisa Coding/data Analysis

Analysis &

Preparations

5

Training

Pilot

Coding /

data Analysis

Mandinari Entry

Analysis &

Preparations

10

ensure that all school types were represented, Stratified (to address urban/rural dichotomy)

and random (to ensure that all the schools have equal chance to be selected). A total of 1200

students were assessed in the 40 schools sampled in 2007. The number of schools selected by

region and school types is presented in Table 2 below.

Table 2: Number of Sample Schools by Type and Region

The Instruments used for Data Collection

Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) protocols or instruments used in 2007 were

maintained in order to facilitate comparison. The assessment covered the main skills required

for a child to read at the early stage of schooling (Grades 1, 2 and 3). The instruments

included tasks on pre-reading skills, reading skills, comprehension, spelling and punctuation.

In addition, students were also interviewed on their learning and home socioeconomic

environment. Three teachers were also interviewed in each sample school (i.e. one teacher for

each grade level in each school). See Appendixes 3 and 4 for student assessment instruments

(EGRA protocol), the accompanying interview questions and the teacher interview

questionnaire respectively.

Data Collection Procedure

The EGRA team (listed in Appendix 1) was divided into 5 teams of 4 enumerators and one

team leader. Each member of the team was issued with clear terms of reference to assess 30

students each day and to collect data from them (i.e. 10 students from each grade 1, 2 and 3).

In addition to student assessment and interviews, the enumerators and team leaders were

responsible for data coding and entry into excel spread sheet. Table 3 shows the data

collection schedule indicating the schools visited. A total of eight days were used for data

collection and three days for the coding exercise.

Region Number of Schools

Total Public Mission Private

1 3 2 1 6

2 8 1 0 9

3 5 1 0 6

4 5 0 0 5

5 6 1 0 7

6 6 1 0 7

Total 33 6 1 40

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Table 3: Data collection Schedule by Team

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

Teams

22nd

June 23rd June 24th June 25th June

26th

June

27th

June

28th

June 29th June

30the

June 1st July 2nd July

1 Campama St. Joseph's Madiyana

Old

Jeshwang

St.

Michael

Codin

g

Codin

g

Albreda Bakalari

Madina

Manneh

Codin

g

2

Methodist

Prep. Bondali Kampasa Burong

Kulu

Kunda Nema Kuta

Kani

Kunda Pakaliba

Banjul

3

Bakau

N/Town St. Peters

New

Yundum Sohm Farafenni Kerr Sait

Simbara

Hai Sami Banni

Maram

St Therese's

4 Seino Tanje Kabafita

Tamba

kunda Banni R3 Jahali

Njie

Kunda Fulabantang

5 Sare Ngai

Barrow

Kunda

Song

Kunda Kossemar

Sare

Wallom

Korojula

Kunda

St

George's

Sankoli

Kunda

LBS LBS LBS LBS LBS BCS LBS LBS

12

Data Analysis Procedure

An excel spreadsheet analysis tool was been used to generate the tables and figures presented

in this report focussing on comparison between 2007 and 2009 assessment results. The data

are organised and presented in simple bar charts in order to enhance the user friendliness of

the report. As much as possible, disaggregated data are presented to show variations in

regions, school type (government, mission and private schools), grades (1, 2 and 3) and sex

(male and female).

Limitations of the Study

It was proposed that after the coding, a Gambian representative will join Research Triangular

Institute (RTI) team for capacity building on an exhaustive data analysis. This has not yet

been materialised, however, the analysis presented in this report are those within the national

capacity to show variations in the results of 2007 and 2009 as a measure of the impact of the

interventions carried to strengthen reading abilities in schools. An exhaustive analysis is

required for all the data collected in order to present a more comprehensive analysis including

the implications for teaching and learning – a framework newly developed at RTI.

Secondly, the analysis is based on figures (i.e. quantitative data) and therefore excludes

findings on the views of teachers about challenges to be addressed to further improve reading

abilities in schools. A follow up seminar(s)/workshop(s) is therefore required as a basis for

preparing a more comprehensive proposal towards efforts to improve reading abilities. The

following section presents the findings.

PRESENTATION OF THE FINDINGS

The skills assessed to determine reading abilities of students are as follows.

1) Pre-reading skills were assessed by the following indicators

• Concept of print measured by correct finger placement of a child on where to start

reading

• Identification of correct text direction

• Number of correct letters a child read per minute

• Correct number of sounds identified and sounded out by a child in a given word

• Sum of correct sound identified

2) Reading skills were assessed by the following indicators:

• Number of correct words read by a child per minute

• Number of correct non-words read per minute

• Number of correct words read in a passage)

3) Comprehension skills include the following indicators:

• Correct answers to comprehension

• Correct answers to listening comprehension

4) Spelling 5) Punctuation including:

• Appropriate spacing of words

• Appropriate text direction in writing

• Use of capital letters at the beginning of sentence

• Correct punctuation (e.g. full stop at the end of a sentence).

13

The presentation of the results for each EGRA indicator is preceded by a brief description of

the EGRA task with a view to developing appreciation and skills to conduct EGRA at school

level by the teachers and interested education officers.

The figures are presented in simple graphs comparing the 2007 and 2009 results. Four sets of

graphs are presented on each indicator as follows.

• Results by Education Region including the national average

• Results by school type (public, mission and private schools)

• Results by Grade (Grades 1, 2 and 3), and

• Results by sex (male and female)

1.0 Pre-reading Skills

Five tasks were involved in assessing pre-reading skills of children. These are

1. Concept of print as indicated by correct finger placement on where to begin reading

2. Text direction as indicated by correct finger movement along the text direction

3. Knowledge of letter names

4. Knowledge of letter sounds (phonemic awareness) as indicated by the child’s ability to

identify the number of phonemes in a word and

5. The ability of a child to correctly sound out the phonemes.

1.1 Concept of Print (Finger Placement)

An important pre-requisite for a child to read is his/her knowledge of where to begin reading.

This is important especially in The Gambia where the majority of children start their

education from Islamic schools using Arabic script for which the text direction is from right

to left.

The task involved in assessing the concept of print is finger placement on the top/left letter.

Figure 1.1 shows the result. While 88 percent of early grade students had knowledge of

fingers placement in 2007, about 95 percent of children demonstrated knowledge of finger

placement in 2009. This implies that about 5% of the children still lacked knowledge of where

to begin reading English Language script. Figures 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4 show the comparative

results by region, school type, grade and sex respectively.

14

All Regions registered increase except Region 3 with slight decrease from 98.3 % in 2007 to

97.8% in 2009.

All school types registered increase in finger placement. Whilst 100% of the private school

students demonstrated knowledge of finger placement 2% and 5 % of the mission and public

schools students lacked the knowledge respectively. However they registered 10% and 7%

point increase in 2009 over 2007 respectively.

15

Whereas no significant difference was observed between the Grades in 2007, the 2009 data

reveal progressive differences between the grades with 90% of Grade 1 students having

knowledge of correct finger placement(the lowest) and 99% of the Grade 3 students (the

highiest).

Figure 1.4 shows significant improvement for both sexes. However, while male scored higher

than female in 2007, there was no differences in the scores of boys and girls in 2009.

1.2 Text direction

The task involved in assessing knowledge of text direction is the movement of finger from

left to right. Figures 2.1 to 2.4 show the comparative results for 2007 and 2009. Figure 2.1

for example shows increase from 87% to 96% in the overall and that except for Region 3, all

regions registered increase in the percentage of students with knowledge of text direction.

16

All school types registered significant increase in the percentage of students with knowledge

of text direction. About 5 % and 2 % of the public and mission schools were still without

knowledge of text direction.

Whilst no significant variations was observed between the grades in 2007, the percentage of

children with the knowledge of text direction range from 90% of Grade 1 students to 100% of

Grade 3 students in 2009. This implies that all Grade 3 students acquired knowledge of

correct text direction in 2009 as compared to only 87% in 2007.

17

It can be observed in Figure 2.4 that the percentage of males with knowledge of text direction

is higher than female in 2007 by 1% point. However, the percentage of female increased over

male in 2009 by the same (1) percentage point.

1.3 Knowledge of Letter Names

This task involved in assessing knowledge of letter names was to ask students to name full set

of letters (A-Z) listed in random order. This is to prevent students from reciting a memorized

alphabet. Both upper and lower case of the alphabet were used and the score constituted the

number of letters each child read in one minute. A total of 100 letters were listed in the

assessment instrument with each alphabet presented in multiple times.

This result shows a registered increase in the overall average score for knowledge of letter

names from 24.5 letters per minute in 2007 to 33.2 in 2009. Figures 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4

show the results by region, school type, grade and sex respectively.

18

Even though the private schools score higher, significant improvement is observed in mission

schools with 15.38 percentage point increase of 2009 score over 2007. The percentage point

increase for public schools was 8.41 as compared to 3.69 for private schools.

All grades registered increase in 2009 over 2007 averages.

19

While male scored higher in 2007, female were in the lead in 2009

1.4 Phonemic Awareness (Knowledge of Letter Sounds)

Two tasks were involved in assessing students’ knowledge of letter sounds. These are (a) the

identification task which required children to provide the number of sounds included in a

spoken word. The scores were calculated by the total number of words for which the number

of phonemes correctly identified. In other words, the total number of correct answers for the

number of sounds identified (out of 5 words). The comparative results for 2007 and 2009 are

presented in Figures 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 and 4.4 by region, school type, grade and sex respectively.

20

21

(b) Counting task in which students were asked to provide the number of sounds included in

the list of words that phonemes were earlier identified. The scores were calculated by the total

number of phonemes correctly pronounced or sounded out (out of a total of 14 sounds).

Figures 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 and 5.4 show the comparative results by region, school type, grade and

sex respectively. Table 4 shows that the mode for the correct number of sounds identified

increased from zero in 2007 to two (2) in 2009. However, that of the phonemes correctly

sounded out remains zero (0). The mean score slightly increase from 3.8 (2007) to 4.5 sounds

in 2009.

22

While the public and private schools increased, the mission schools registered a slight

decrease.

23

2.0 Reading skills

Three sets of tasks were used to assess reading skills as follows.

• Familiar word reading

• Pseudo word (invented words) reading

• Word reading in context or passage

2.1 Familiar Word Reading

Familiar word reading tasks required students to read a list of 50 one-syllable (2-3 letters)

familiar words selected from early grade reading materials. The score was calculated by

counting the number of words each student read aloud correctly in one minute. The results by

region, school type, grade and sex are presented in Figures 6.1 to 6.4 respectively. There is a

registered nationwide increase from 2.54 (2007) to 4.78 (2009).

24

25

2.2 Pseudo word (Invented Words or Non-word) Reading

This task involved simple unfamiliar non-word decoding. Children were asked to read from a

list of 50 pseudo words. The score was calculated by counting the number of pseudo words a

student read aloud correctly in 1 minute. The comparative results are presented in Figures 7.1,

7.2, 7.3 and 7.4 by region, school type, grade and sex respectively.

26

2.3 Passage or Word in Context Reading

This assessment included one short narrative paragraph (60 words). The score was calculated

by counting the number of words each student read aloud correctly in 1 minute. The results

for 2007 and 2009 are presented in Figures 8.1 to 8.4.

27

3.0 Comprehension Task

The assessment of comprehension involves both reading and listening comprehension tasks.

3.1 Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension assessment was based on the text used to assess word-in-context

reading. The students were asked to read the text aloud after which they were asked five

questions on the passage (two "yes/no” responses). The score was the number of questions the

student answered correctly out of five (5) questions. The results for 2007 and 2009 are

presented below in Figures 9.1, 9.2, 9.3 and 9.4 respectively.

28

29

3.2 Listening Comprehension

To Assess listening comprehension, the examiner reads aloud text similar to the one used to

assess reading comprehension (~60 words) and the student was asked three simple questions

about the passage, (with 2 “yes/no” responses). The score was the number of questions the

students answered correctly. The results for 2007 and 2009 are presented in Figure 10 by

region including the national average.

30

31

Task on spelling skills involved reading a short sentence to the child, after which he/she was

asked to write down the spelling. The scores were calculated based on correct spelling of two

key words “shop” and “tea”, correct spacing between words, direction of the writing,

capitalisation at the beginning of the sentence and punctuation (i.e. full stop at the end of the

sentence). The results are presented in Tables 4 to 9 (pages 34 to 36).

TEACHER TRAINING NEED

The assessment included questionnaire for teachers. The questions about the training teachers

received are the only parameters analysed in this report and presented in Figure 11 below. It

shows that 83% of the teachers reported to have been trained on teaching reading. However,

only 25% reported to have been trained on assessing reading. This indicates the need to train

teachers on assessment methods.

SUMMARY OF RESULTS

Figures 12 and 13 (adapted from the RTI calculations) below provide a reasonable summary

of the impact of the interventions. These graphs represent the weighted percentage of children

in The Gambia who could not perform each of the listed tasks in the 2007 and 2009 EGRA

assessment, broken down by grade. They show the overall decreasing trend within grade

between 2007 and 2009, as well as specific improvements, such as 2nd

graders unable to read

connected text (dark green bar) decreasing from 57% in 2007 to 44% in 2009, showing an

almost 23% decrease in the total number of 2nd

graders unable to read connected text. The

figures in this graphic are produced using a two-tiered weighting and stratification calculation

to more accurately represent the entire student population of The Gambia.

32

Figure 12: The proportion of children who could not read in 2007 and 2009 by Grade

and EGRA task

Figure 13 for example, shows that 34% of the children in Grade 3 were unable to read a single

word of the connected text (passage) in 2007. However, in 2009 this figure was reduced to

18%, indicating that the proportion of children who could not read a single word was reduced

by about half.

33

Figure 13: The proportion of children unable to read a single word in context in 2007

and 2008 by grade

Table 4 to 9 present the mean and mode for 16 EGRA Indicators. This result shows a

registered increase of the average (mean) scores for all the indicators for 2009 over 2007

figures. However, the modes (i.e. the most frequent occurrence) for most of the indicators

remain the same (mostly zero). It is therefore evident that efforts need to be intensified to

sustain and improve on the registered achievements in curbing reading inabilities in Gambian

schools. Whilst Table 4 presents the overall national averages of the indicators, Tables 5, 6, 7,

8 and 9 show the score means and modes for government schools, mission schools, private

schools, male and female respectively.

34

Table 4: National Means and Modes of EGRA Indicators

Items Indicators

2007 2009

Mean Mode Mean Mode

1 Correct finger placement 0.88 1.00 0.95 1.0

2 Knowledge of text direction 0.87 1.00 0.96 1.0

3 N° of correct letters per minute 24.48 0.00 33.24 0

4 Correct number of sounds identify 1.39 0.00 1.87 2

5 Sum of correct sound identified 3.83 0.00 4.47 0

6 N° of correct words per minute 2.54 0.00 4.78 0

7 Correct non-words per minute 1.27 0.00 2.64 0

8 N° of correct words (reading passage) 5.05 0.00 8.71 0

9 Correct answers to comprehension 0.96 0.00 1.68 0

10 Listening comprehension 1.29 0.00 1.62 2

11 Spelling 1 write "shop" correctly 0.16 0.00 0.24 0

12 Spelling 2 (write "tea" correctly) 0.09 0.00 0.18 0

13 Appropriate spacing of words 0.12 0.00 0.28 0

14 Appropriate text direction 1.48 2.00 1.68 2

15

Use of capital letters at the beginning of

sentence 0.10 0.00 0.22 0

16 Correct punctuation (full stop) 0.02 0.00 0.08 0

Table 5: Means and Modes of EGRA Indicators (Government Schools)

Items Indicators

2007 2009

Mean Mode Mean Mode



3 N° of correct letters per minute 22.11 0 30.52 0

4 Correct number of sounds identify 1.28 0 1.83 2

5 Sum of correct sound identified 3.50 0 4.13 0

6 N° of correct words per minute 1.33 0 3.65 0

7 Correct non-words per minute 0.68 0 2.03 0

8 N° of correct words (reading passage) 2.98 0 6.59 0

9 Correct answers to comprehension 0.75 0 1.42 0

10 Listening comprehension 1.16 0 1.50 2

11 Spelling 1 write "shop" correctly 0.09 0 0.19 0

12 Spelling 2 (write "tea" correctly) 0.05 0 0.13 0

13 Appropriate spacing of words 0.07 0 0.22 0

14 Appropriate text direction 1.46 2 1.69 2

15


sentence 0.08 0 0.22 0

16 Correct punctuation (full stop) 0.01 0 0.05 0

35

Table 6: Means and Modes of EGRA Indicators (Mission School)

Items Indicators

2007 2009

Mean Mode Mean Mode



3 N° of correct letters per minute 28.53 0 43.91 0












15 Use of capital letters at the beginning of sentence 0.15 0 0.21 0


Table 7: Means and Modes of EGRA Indicators (Private Schools)

Items Indicator

2007 2009

Mean Mode Mean Mode



3 Number of correct letters per minute 56.62 58 60.31 41












15


sentence 0.33 0 0.28 0


36

Table 8: Means and Modes of EGRA Indicators for Male

Items Indicator

2007 2009

Mean Mode Mean Mode



3 Number of correct letters per minute 26.31 22.00 32.94 0.00

4 Correct number of sounds identify 1.47 1.00 1.94 2.00

5 Sum of correct sound identified 4.22 4.00 4.60 0.00

6 N° of correct words per minute 2.81 0.00 5.25 0.00

7 Correct non-words per minute 1.46 0.00 3.08 0.00

8 N° of correct words (reading passage) 5.32 0.00 8.40 0.00

9 Correct answers to comprehension 1.09 0.00 1.69 0.00

10 Listening comprehension 1.45 2.00 1.68 3.00

11 Spelling 1 write "shop" correctly 0.18 0.00 0.25 0.00

12 Spelling 2 (write "tea" correctly) 0.10 0.00 0.19 0.00

13 Appropriate spacing of words 0.14 0.00 0.27 0.00

14 Appropriate text direction 1.48 2.00 1.69 2.00

15


sentence 0.12 0.00 0.23 0.00

16 Correct punctuation (full stop) 0.03 0.00 0.07 0.00

Table 9: Means and Modes of EGRA Indicators for Female

Items Indicator

2007 2009

Mean Mode Mean Mode

1 Correct finger placement 0.88 1 0.95 1.00

2 Knowledge of text direction 0.87 1 0.96 1.00

3 Number of correct letters per minute 24.52 0 33.52 0.00

4 Correct number of sounds identify 1.39 0 1.81 2.00

5 Sum of correct sound identified 3.83 0 4.36 0.00

6 N° of correct words per minute 2.55 0 4.37 0.00

7 Correct non-words per minute 1.27 0 2.25 0.00

8 N° of correct words (reading passage) 5.06 0 9.00 0.00

9 Correct answers to comprehension 0.96 0 1.67 0.00

10 Listening comprehension 1.29 0 1.57 2.00

11 Spelling 1 write "shop" correctly 0.16 0 0.24 0.00

12 Spelling 2 (write "tea" correctly) 0.09 0 0.17 0.00

13 Appropriate spacing of words 0.12 0 0.28 0.00

14 Appropriate text direction 1.48 2 1.68 2.00

15


sentence 0.10 0 0.22 0.00

16 Correct punctuation (full stop) 0.02 0 0.09 0.00

37

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The interventions carried out between 2007 and 2009 have no doubt registered significant

impact on reading abilities of students as measured by the mean scores of all the EGRA

indicators presented in this report. Furthermore, given that the intervention proper started in

the second half of 2007 and this assessment was conducted in the first half of 2009 (see

Appendix 2), this results may, in real terms be associated with only one year of intensive

interventions. It is therefore encouraging to note the upward trend of the impact of the

intervention within relatively a short period of time. However, the fact that the modes for the

indicators still remain low (Tables 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9), the Ministry or The Gambia as a nation

cannot therefore be complacent with the registered achievement.

Furthermore, this impact assessment registered a major step towards the efforts to introduce

and sustain EGRA at the local level. It is also evident from the preparation of this report that

national capacity is being developed to conduct EGRA. However, as noted in the Forward

section of this report, rapid improvement on reading abilities may require classroom teachers

to acquire the skills to develop, administer and analyse their own classroom assessments. For

example, a teacher may assess individual children on sets of letters taught periodically. This

will enable teachers to identify and address difficulties of individual students at an early stage

of their teaching of reading, thus a step towards enhancing child-centred teaching approach.

The positive impact of the EGRA interventions registered in this report has now posed a

challenge of sustaining and improving the good practices that led to the achievements. It

therefore follows that more efforts, resources and indeed commitments, are much needed than

ever before to carry out more tactful interventions to curb reading inabilities in schools.

The data could have been enriched if qualitative data were collected on the problems,

constrains/challenges of schools and teachers and how to address them to ensure that students

attain the desired reading abilities. In the absence of such qualitative data, it is proposed that a

forum be created with the involvement of classroom teachers, cluster monitors and head

teachers with a view to illuminating the problems and possible solutions to further improve

reading abilities in schools. Such a forum could form the basis for a more comprehensive plan

to consolidate and improve on the registered achievements. Meanwhile, the following

recommendations may be considered

• Training of teachers on EGRA assessment tools to enable them to conduct their own

internal assessment at the classroom level and to focus on individual child’s

difficulties in learning how to read.

• The fact that children performed better in Phonics than in comprehension and other

forms of sentence construction may imply high concentration on phonics than other

aspects of reading. It will therefore be necessary to revisit the teacher training

materials with a view to augmenting those aspects of reading skills that have not been

adequately addressed in the materials.

• The provision of Radio Cassette players to schools may help teachers to teach letter

sounds more appropriately. It is therefore suggested that the power of radio cassette

players and other electronic media be explored and provided to schools to enhance the

teaching and learning of reading.

38

• Since Madrassah institutions are increasingly becoming essential in the provision of

basic education, both English and Arabic EGRA assessment tools, training materials

and facilities would need to be provided to them as well.

• There needs to be continued and enhanced emphasis on EGRA at Gambia College

teachers training to ensure that all teachers graduating from the college are grounded

phonics and the teaching of reading in general.

39

Appendix 1: List of 2009 EGRA Team

No. Name Institution Telephone Contact

1 Omar Jatta Region 1 7474390

2 Faatu Touray Region 1 9988386

3 Fabakary N.S. Jarju (Team Leader) Region 1 9959250

4 Salifu Jobe Region 2 6428562

5 Amie Sawo Region 2 9928627

6 Buba Marreh Region 2 9944412 or 6944412

7 Fatou Janneh Region 2 9936573

8 Muhammad O. Kebbeh Region 3 9803265

9 Lamin S. Jawara Region 3 9947645 or 7724485

10 Seedy Jammeh Region 4 9713651 or 7367226

11 Musa Bah Region 4 9932643 or 7234140

12 Sophie Bass Region 5 9702516

13 Biram Faye Region 5 9843928

14 Karamba Sonko (Team Leader) Region 5 9952355

15 Kimingtang Sowe Region 6 9803621 or 6427925

16 Alpha Camara Region 6 7081104

17 Sang Gomez (Team Leader) SQAD2 7736300

18 Ida Njie (Team Leader) SQAD 9944413

19 Ebrima N.H. Jarju (Team Leader) SQAD 9988303

20 Lamin S. Sonko SQAD 6603900 or 9811078

21 Fatou Bittaye CREDD3 9956213

22 Momodou Jammeh CREDD 9984707

23 Muntu Mboob CREDD 9846902

24 Burama L. J. Jammeh (Coordinator) CREDD 9941178

25 Ousman Senghore NATCOM4 7561172

26 Kemo S. Kinteh FIOH5 9904237

27 Cherno Ceesay FIOH 7808525

2 Standard and Quality Assurance Directorate

3 Curriculum Research, Evaluation and Development Directorate

4 National Commission for UNESCO – This participant was formally with CREDD

5 Future in Our Hands (The two participants from this organisation are trainers trained on EGRA for the purpose

of capacity building. They also joined the assessment team at some point).

40

Appendix 2: Important EGRA Events in The Gambia

Date Activity Objectives Output

16th

-21st

April 2007)

Dakar Training

To expose & train 6 Gambian to

EGRA, review & adapt instruments

The officers adequately

trained & decided on

measures to expand the EGRA

team

23rd

– 30th

April 2007 (

pre-testing

on 24th

and

27th

Aprils

In-country training,

2 piloting/ pre-

testing further

adaptation of

instrument

To train additional 14 officials,

review, pilot and prepare for field

work

A team of 20 officers

participated in finalising the

instruments and were made

available for EGRA

Saturday

28th

April

Training on the

analysis

To expose Gambian team on the

analysis of EGRA data

Participant can work out and

interpret mean, standard

deviation, mode from the pilot

data

2nd – 11th

May 2007

The Assessment

To carry out assessment and

interview pupils & teachers

1200 students assessed and

interviewed in 40 schools,

teachers were also

interviewed

25th

– 27th

May 2007 Senior Management

Team Meeting Review the result of pilot exercise Decision to set up a task force

to work out intervention to

curb reading inabilities

21st - 27th

June 2007

excl. Sun.

24th

& Mon

25th

)

Documentary

Review To identify gaps in instructional

materials of schools and Gambia

College in order to revitalise the

mechanics of reading in school

To identify best practices on

enhanced reading of early graders

with a view to adapting and further

expansion in the school system.

A solid foundation is made for

the preparations to mount

nationwide teacher training.

Gaps have been identified in

both school curriculum

materials and Gambia College

teacher training materials for

addressing reading

6th

– 15th

August

2007

Material

development

workshop for

teacher training

To produce training guide for

training of teacher on Early Grade

Reading

A hand book is produced on

teaching Early Grade Reading

Abilities (EGRA)

August –

September

2007

Nationwide Training

of teachers To increase awareness on the

EGRA results

To train teachers with a view to

enhancing Early Grade Reading

Ability in schools

About 3000 teachers,

including head teachers,

senior teachers, Grade 1 – 3

teachers and cluster monitors

are trained for six days per

cohort in three weeks

25TH

March

08 – 18th

April 08

Teacher training on

Jolly Phonics To increase phonemic awareness

of teacher trainer and teachers

across the country

It is expected that 700

teachers will be trained on

Jolly Phonics

February to

March 2009

Teacher training To train teachers on early literacy 578 Grade 1, 2 and 3 teachers

trained

41

Appendix 3: EGRA Protocols (Instrument for Student Assessment)

General Instructions

It is important to establish a playful and relaxed rapport with the children to be assessed, via some

simple initial conversation among topics of interest to the child. The child should perceive the

following assessment almost as a game (for example, nonwords can be referred to as “silly” or

“made-up” words) to be enjoyed rather than a severe situation. It is important to read ONLY the

sections in boxes aloud slowly and clearly. If the child does not understand the instructions, explain

them in the child’s home language. After you have finished the interview, thank the child for their

time and effort and give him/her a pencil.

Verbal Consent

My name is _________. I work with the Dept. of State for Education in The Gambia.

• We are trying to understand how children learn to read. You were picked by chance, like in a raffle.

• We would like your help in this. But you do not have to take part if you do not want to.

• We are going to play a reading game. I am going to ask you to read letters, words and a short story out loud.

• Using this stopwatch, I will see how long it takes you to read.

• This is NOT a test and it will not affect your grade at school.

• I will also ask you questions about your family, like what language your family uses at home and some of the things your family has.

• I will NOT write down your name so no one will know these are your answers.

• Once again, you do not have to participate if you do not wish to. Once we begin, if you would rather not answer a question, that’s all right.

• Can we get started?

Verbal Consent Obtained. YES ______ NO [Stop Assessment, Get Another Child]

Start and Stop Time (Hour and Minutes): ___: ___ to ___:____

Administrator Name Grade

School Name # Students in Class Register

School Type 0=Gov’t 1=Private 2=Mission

Teacher Name (Mr./Ms.)

Double Shift School 0=No

1=Yes

Child Gender 0=Male 1=Female

School Shift 0=Permanent Morning 1=Permanent Afternoon

2=Alternating

Child Age

For Team Leader Entry:

School

EMIS ID

Recording

Number

Unique

Student ID

42

Section 1. Letter Name Knowledge

Show the child the sheet of letters on the first page of the student assessment. Say,

Here is a page full of letters of the alphabet. Please tell me the NAMES of as many letters as you can--not the SOUNDS of the letters, but the names.

For example, the name of this letter [point to O] is “OH”.

Now You Try: Tell me the name of this letter [Have the Student Identify the Letter “V”]:

If the child responds correctly say: Good, the name of this letter is “VEE.”

If the child does not respond correctly, say: The name of this letter is “VEE.”

Now You Try: Tell me the name of this letter [Have the Student Identify the Letter “L”]:

If the child responds correctly say: Good, the name of this letter is “ELL.”

If the child does not respond correctly, say: The name of this letter is “ELL.”

Do you understand what you are to do?

Please show me with your finger where you would start reading.

Now, show me with your finger where you would read next.

When I say “begin,” name the letters as best as you can. I will keep quiet and listen to you, unless you need help. Ready? Begin.

1. Does the child put his/her finger on the top/left letter? YES NO

2. Does the child move his/her finger from left to right? YES NO

Start the timer when you say “begin.” Follow along with your pencil and mark any incorrect letters

with a slash (/). Count self-corrections as correct. Stay quiet, except when providing answers as

follows: if the child hesitates for 3 seconds, provide the name of the letter, point to the next letter

and say “Please go on.” Mark the letter you provide to the child as incorrect. AFTER 60 SECONDS

SAY, “stop.” Mark the final letter read before you said “stop” with a bracket (]).

43

STOP THE CHILD AT 60 SECONDS AND MARK WITH A BRACKET (]).

V i h g S y Z W L N /10

i K T D K T q d z w /20

h w z m U r j G X u /30

g R B Q i f J Z s r /40

S n C B p Y F c a E /50

y s Q P M v O t n P /60

Z A e x f F h u A t /70

W G H b S i g m i L /80

L i o O X N E Y p x /90

N k c D d y b j R v /100

Total Letters Read at 60 seconds: ______

Total Incorrect Letters at 60 seconds: _______

Total Correct Letters at 60 seconds: ______

ONLY IF LESS THAN 60 seconds, number of seconds at completion: __________

3. TEAM LEADER: Correct Letters Per Minute ________

44

Section 2. Phoneme Segmentation

This is NOT a timed exercise and THERE IS NO STUDENT SHEET for this exercise, instead the

administrator reads aloud. Read aloud each word and have the student: repeat the word, identify the

number of sounds, and say the sounds in each word. Say,

This is a listening exercise. You know that each letter has a sound. So pot,

“p”-“o”-“t” can be pronounced p /puh/, o /auh/ and t /tuh/.

Let’s try a letter first: tell me the sound of the letter “k”.

[If the child responds correctly /kuh/ say]: Very good, the sound in “k” is /kuh/.

[If the child does not respond correctly, say]: The sound of the letter “k” is /kuh/.

Now your turn, tell me the sound in the letter “k”.

Now tell me the sound of the letter “m”.

[If the child responds correctly /mmuh/ say]: Very good, the sound in “m” is /mmuh/.

[If the child does not respond correctly, say]: The sound of the letter “m” is /mmuh/.

Your turn, tell me the sound in “m”.

Now I am going to say a word. After I say it, repeat the word back to me and tell me the number of sounds in the word. Then make those sounds. If I say “key” you would say “key”, two sounds: /kuh/ and /ee/.

Let’s try one. Tell me the number of sounds in “hat” and what they are.

[If the child responds correctly, say]: Very good, there are 3 sounds in hat and the

sounds are /huh/ /ah/ /tuh/.

[If the child does not respond correctly, say]: There are three sounds in hat: /huh/ /ah/

/tuh/. Your turn, tell me the sounds in hat.


In case the student says no, repeat both examples and explain in the home language. If the child does

not respond after 10 seconds, provide the number and sounds of the word, mark it incorrect and

move on. Score both the number of sounds (correct/incorrect) and correct sounding out of the word.

Pronounce each word 2 times.

45

# of Sounds Identified

(Tick Correct or Incorrect)

How many sounds in _________?

# of Phonemes Correctly Sounded Out

(Put a slash through the sound if incorrect)

What are the sounds in _________?

As [2] Correct Incorrect

too [2] Correct Incorrect

mop [3] Correct Incorrect

loud [3] Correct Incorrect

birds [4] Correct Incorrect

as /ah/ /z/ ____/2

too /tuh/ /oo/ ____/2

mop /mmuh/ /ahh/ /puh/ ____/3

loud /luh/ /ow/ /duh/ ____/3

birds /buh/ /urh/ /duh/ /z/ ____/4

4. Number of Correct Answers for Number of Sound Identification (Out of 5) _____/5

5. Sum of Correct Sounds Identified (Sounded Out) (Out of 14) _____/14

Section 3. Familiar Word Identification

Show the child the sheet of words on the second page of the student assessment. Say,

Here are some words. I would like you to read me as many words as you can (do not spell the words, but read them).

Here is an example: “CAT”.

Now You Try: Tell me the name of this word [Have the student read the word “of”]:

If the child responds correctly say: Good, this word is “OF.”

If the child does not respond correctly, say: This word is “OF.”


Please start here (point to the left-most letter on the top row), and go across (point from left

to right). When I say “begin,” read all of the words as best you can. Point to each word

as you read it. Put your finger on the first word. Ready? Begin.

Start the timer when you say “begin.” Mark each incorrect word with a slash mark. Count self-

corrections as correct. Stay quiet, except when providing answers as follows: if the child hesitates for

3 seconds, provide the word, point to the next word and say “Please go on.” Mark the word you

provided as incorrect. After one minute, say, “stop.” Mark the final word attempted before you

said “stop” with a bracket (]).

46


sad dog red do eat /5

and us to girl then /10

as hat if seem get /15

house sun stop lots ear /20

food at they big the /25

last run fly we on /30

saw walk school best time /35

boy wall chair all me /40

will blue size fall go /45

hope far man her was /50

Total Words Read at 60 seconds: ______

Total Incorrect Words at 60 seconds: _______

Total Correct Words at 60 seconds: ______


6. TEAM LEADER: Correct Words Per Minute= ________

47

Section 4. Simple unfamiliar nonword decoding

Show the child the sheet of nonwords on the third page on the student form. Say,

Look at this word. It’s a made-up word: “ut.” Now you try [point to the next word: dif].

[If the student says “dif”, say]: “Very good: dif”

[If the student does not say “dif” correctly say]: This made-up word is “dif.”


Please start here [point to the left-most letter on the top row], and go across [point from left

to right]. When I say “begin,” read the made-up words as best as you can. Point to

each word as you read it. Put your finger on the first word. Ready? Begin.

Start the timer when you say “begin.” It is important to mark incorrect nonwords with a slash. Count

self-corrections as correct. Stay quiet, except when providing answers as follows: if the child

hesitates for 3 seconds, provide the word, point to the next word and say “Please go on.” Mark the

word you provided as incorrect. After one minute, say, “stop.” Mark the final word attempted

before you said “stop” with a bracket (]).


wub dod ik vus nux 5

ul zel bef wab hiz 10

min ras bub jaf duz 15

tam af ked ig el 20

loz ep yat ol tob 25

uf ral ep bab vif 30

tig dev dop zac gok 35

lut sig zop mig zut 40

wof ib jud zek vok 45

ruz huf sa ak jep 50

Total NonWords Read at 60 seconds: ______

Total Incorrect NonWords at 60 seconds: _______

Total Correct NonWords at 60 seconds: ______


7. TEAM LEADER: Correct NonWords Per Minute= ________

48

Section 5. Passage reading.

Show the child the passage on the last page of the student form. Say,

I want you to read this aloud. When you finish, I will ask you some questions about what you have read. Do you understand what you are to do?

Please start here [point to the left-most letter on the top row], and go across [point from left

to right]. When I say “begin,” read the story as best as you can. Point to each word as

you read it. Put your finger on the first word. Ready? Begin.

Start the timer/recorder when you say “begin.” Mark each incorrect word with a slash. Count self-

corrections as correct. Stay quiet, except when providing answers as follows: if the student cannot

read the word after 3 seconds, provide the missing word and encourage the child to continue by

saying: “Good effort. Please keep trying.” If you provided the word, mark it as incorrect.

MARK THE WORD THE CHILD READ AT 60 SECONDS WITH A BRACKET, BUT LET THE CHILD

CONTINUE AND FINISH THE PARAGRAPH.

Reading Passage

Good Morning. My name is Lamin. 6

I am seven years old. My brother is Musa. 15

He is five years old. I also have a sister. 25

Her name is Binta. We live in Basse. 33

We go to school from Monday to Friday. 41

We like to read. My father is a farmer. 50

My mother sells fish at the market near the tree. 60

Total Words Read at 60 seconds: ______

Total Incorrect Words at 60 seconds: _______

Total Correct Words at 60 seconds: ______


Time to complete the ENTIRE paragraph: ___________

49

Let the child keep the text after they read it. After you read each question, give the child at most 15

seconds to answer each question. Mark the answers to the questions as correct or incorrect.

Now I am going to ask you a few questions about the story you just read. Try to answer the questions as best as you can.

Where does Lamin live? [Basse] Correct Incorrect

What is Lamin’s brother’s name? [Musa] Correct Incorrect

Does Lamin have a sister? [Yes] Correct Incorrect

Is Lamin’s father a teacher? [No] Correct Incorrect

What does Lamin’s mother do?

[Sells fish/Sells at market/Sell] Correct Incorrect

8. TEAM LEADER: Correct Words Per Minute ________

9. TEAM LEADER: Correct Answers to Comprehension Questions: ________/5

Section 6. Listening Comprehension

This is NOT a timed exercise and THERE IS NO STUDENT SHEET. The administrator reads aloud the

following passage ONLY ONE TIME, slowly (about 2 words per second). Say,

I am going to read you a short story aloud ONCE and then ask you some questions. Please listen carefully and answer the questions as best as you can.


On Saturday, Lamin and his family stay at home. Mother works in the compound.

Father drinks tea with his friend. Binta reads a book. Lamin studies with his friend,

Adama.

Does Lamin stay at home on Saturday? [YES] Correct Incorrect

Does Binta play football? [NO] Correct Incorrect

Does Lamin study OR play football? [He studies] Correct Incorrect

10. TEAM LEADER: Correct Answers: ________/3

50

Section 7. Dictation

I am going to read you a short sentence aloud and then ask you write it down.

Please listen carefully the first time, then start writing it out as best as you can.

I will then repeat the sentence two more times.


Have the student write the dictation sentence on the back of the page prior to the dictation exercise

(back of page 6). Read the following sentence aloud ONCE with a regular pace. Then have the child

start writing. Then repeat a SECOND time more slowly (about 1 word per second). Pause for five

seconds then repeat the sentence a THIRD time while the child is writing. Score the student

response according to the following table by ticking “√” the appropriate box.

Go to the shop and buy some rice and tea.

Evaluation Criteria Incorrect=0 Partially Correct=1 Correct=2

11. Wrote “shop” correctly. (At least: sh, ho,

op, sho, sop)

12. Wrote “tea” correctly. (At least: ti, te, tee,

or ea, ee)

13. Used appropriate spacing (should have

some spacing between words—size of

spacing does not matter).

0-4 spaces. 5-8 spaces in the

sentence.

All 9 spaces.

14. Used appropriate direction of text (left to

right).

DO NOT MARK

HERE

15. Used capital letter for the word “Go.” DO NOT MARK

HERE

16. Used correct punctuation (“full stop” at

end of sentence).

DO NOT MARK

HERE

51

Section 8. Student Context Interview

17. Language(s) in which interview was conducted with the

child.

[Multiple Responses Permitted]

1=English

2=Wolof

3=Pular

4=Jola

5=Mandinka

6=Others [Specify]_______________

18. What language does your family speak most frequently

at home?


1=English

2=Wolof

3=Pular

4=Jola

5=Mandinka

6=Others [Specify] _______________

19. What language does your mother read or write in [ ] ?


0=None/Cannot Read

1= English

2=Wolof

3=Pular

4=Jola

5=Mandinka

6=Others[Specify] ________________

20. What language does your father read or write in [ ] ?


0=None/Cannot Read

1= English

2=Wolof

3=Pular

4=Jola

5=Mandinka

6=Others [Specify] _______________

52

21. Did you attend any form of education before starting

Grade 1?

If YES, what kind?

0=No If Yes: 1=Nursery

2=Madrassa

3=Daara/Karanta

4=Maglis

5=Others [Specify] _______________

22. Are you currently attending any form of Islamic

Schooling?

If YES, what kind?

0=No If Yes: 1=Madrassa

2=Daara/Karanta

3=Maglis

23. Do you have any reading books at home?

If Yes, in what language(s)?


0=No If Yes: 1=English

2=Wolof

3=Pular

4=Jola

5=Mandinka

6=Others [Specify] _______________

24. Does anyone read aloud to you at home?

If Yes, in what language(s) do they read to you?


0=No If Yes: 1=English

2=Wolof

3=Pular

4=Jola

5=Mandinka

6=Others [Specify] _______________

25. Do you practice reading aloud to someone at home?

If Yes, in what language(s) do you read?


0=None If Yes: 1=English

2=Wolof

3=Pular

4=Jola

5=Mandinka

6=Others [Specify] _______________

Where you live, is there . . . ? Yes No

26. Electricity 1 0

27. Electrical Generator or Solar Power 1 0

28. Refrigerator 1 0

29. Television 1 0

30. Video or DVD Player 1 0

31. Radio 1 0

53

32. Gas or Electric Stove 1 0

33. Bicycle 1 0

34. Motorcycle/Scooter 1 0

35. Car/Suzuki pickup/jeep/tractor 1 0

36. Taps for water in the home/compound 1 0

37. Bathroom inside the house 1 0

38. Mobile Phone 1 0

39. Telephone (fixed line) 1 0

40. Have you ever repeated a grade? If Yes, which grade? 0=No If Yes: 1=Grade 1

2=Grade 2

3=Grade 3

41. Does your current teacher ever practice letter sounds with you? [Give student example of “k” and “kuh”].

0=No 1=Yes

42. Do you ever practice reading aloud to your class?

0=No 1=Yes

43. Does your teacher ever read aloud to you?

0=No 1=Yes

44. Last week, did you ever study outside of school? 0=No

If Yes, How Many Days: _________

45. Last week, did you ever study or do class work with classmates or friends (at school or at home)?

0=No

If Yes, How Many Days: __________

46. Did you have a meal this morning before coming to school?

0=No 1=Yes

47. Did you eat a meal or snack at break time at school yesterday [or last school day]?

0=No 1=Yes

48. Did you miss any school days last week?

0=No

If Yes, How Many Days: ___________

49. The last time you did not do well on a test or assignment in school, did your parent(s) or guardian find out? If yes, what did s/he do?

0=No/Never learned about it

1=Learned but did nothing

2=Helped/encouraged me to do better

3=Punished me physically

4=Criticized me verbally

5=Discussed with the teacher

54

6=Argued with the teacher

7=Other (specify__________________)

50. The last time you did well on a test or assignment in school, did your parent(s) or guardian find out? If yes, what did s/he do?

0=No/Never learned about it

1=Learned but did nothing

2=Congratulated or encouraged me

3=Other (specify__________________)

51. In what language(s) does your teacher speak to your class?


1=English

2=Wolof

3=Pular

4=Jola

5=Mandinka

6=Others [Specify] _______________

55

Appendix 4: Teacher Questionnaire

1) Which Grade do you teach? Grade 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 etc ……………

2) How many years have you been teaching? ……..

3) How long have you been teaching this Grade …..

4) Are you a qualified, unqualified or teacher trainee? …………………………….

5) Have you received any training on how to teach reading at lower Grade? Yes /No

a) If yes during your pre-serve or in-service training? …………………………..

b) If in-service who organized the training ……………………………………….

c) Please describe the content in two sentences ………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………

6) Do you teach children the names of alphabets/letter? Yes / No

a) If yes at what grade? ………………

b) How much time do you allocate to teach alphabets/letters per week………

7) Do you teach children the letter sounds? Yes /No

a) If yes at what grade? Grade 1, 2, 3…

b) How much time do you allocate to teach letter sounds per week? ……………...

8) Please tell me what phonemes are. ………………………………………………….

9) Do you teach phonemes?

a) If yes at what Grade? Grade 1, 2, 3 …

b) How much time do you allocated to teach phonemes per week?

10) Do you read aloud short stories to children? Yes / No

a) If yes at what Grade? Grade 1, 2, 3

b) How much time do you allocate to this activity per week? ….

11) Do you have children read aloud to you? Yes /No

a) If yes at what Grade? Grade 1, 2, 3 ….

b) How much time do you allocate to this activity per week? ….

12) What type of teaching aids do you use in teaching children how to read?

…………………………………………………………………………………………

13) Do you give home work to children? Yes /No

14) After marking the assignment what do you do for the children who missed certain work?

……………………………….

15) What do you say or do to the children when they do well in their class or home work

………………………………. …………………………………………..

16) What do you do or say to the children when they do badly in their class or home work?

………………………………………………..

17) Did you receive any training on how to assess reading? Yes /No

a) If yes, was it during your pre-service or in-service training? ……………………..

b) If in-service who organised the training …………………………………………

18) Did you receive any training on how to assess comprehension? Yes /No

a) If yes, was it during your pre-service or in-service training? ……………………..

b) If in-service who organised the training …………………………………………

19) How do you assess comprehension? 0=Collective/group and 1=individual

20) Is the assessment based on (0) reading small text (1) creating and completing questions (2)

silent reading (3) timed reading (4) others (please specify) …………

21) Do you have a school library? Yes / No.

22) Do children borrow books from the library to read?

23) Are children allowed to take school text books home? Yes /No

24) How many of your students do you think can read? ...............................

Documents

REPORT ON IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF INTERVENTIONS ON … · significant impact on the reading abilities of students as shown by the mean scores of all the Early Grade Reading Assessment